It’s a misty morning but you can tell it’s going to be a bright day. As we walk up Muyenga Hill, a glimpse of Lake Victoria in the distance never fails to lift my spirits.

It seems my favourite ‘worst’ road is being improved. This steep marram road was incredibly difficult to navigate, especially after the rain, even in a 4 x 4. I saw a matatu minibus taxi stuck here once, marooned for the night, forcing the passengers to disembark in the pitch darkness into a churned up sea of red clay.

I love cutting across this clear open patch of ground between the houses. A few large mango and jackfruit trees remain and the open stretch of land is cultivated with maize and cassava. Kampala is one enormous construction site so it won’t be long before the crops here give way to a new building.

“Baldrick loves his walks!” exclaimed Ronald last week.

Baldrick looking into one of the pools in Bukasa quarry, Muyenga

Baldrick and Percy on a rock ledge overlooking a pool in Bukasa quarry, Muyenga

Baldrick is excitedly sniffing the area. Any moment now he’ll run across the field.

‘Poison release training’ with Ronald seems to be working well – in the compound. Out here the training continues. Twice I had to shout at him “DROP IT!” There’s still plenty of sniffing going on. (I wonder what a bloodhound looks like? I think to myself as I watch Baldrick run with his nose skimming the ground).

As we walk back down the hill, we pass a man standing in front of his house, handsome and bare-chested, a traditional African kanga wrapped around his waist, a little baby in each arm. He smiles and points out ‘mbwa’ – the dog – to his children.

Diary of a Muzungu follows my Ugandan adventures. I fell in love with Uganda the moment I set foot here. Despite the challenges of life in a developing country, there's nowhere else I’d rather be.
Experience Uganda with me: cultural (mis)interpretations, expat travel advice, travel and tourism, wildlife and birds, Safari field trips, conservation, East African culture, volunteering and the occasional cross-border bus journey.

[…] that’s not so surprising: we don’t have African Grey Parrots, with their bright red underwings, whistling above our heads as they fly towards Lake Victoria morning. In the UK, we are not woken up by the cackle of Hadada […]